The Coto Murder Mystery
by Faux-Fyr
Summary: Fox and Krystal are invited to a party hosted by one of Corneria's most powerful CEO's, Saimon Coto. After the party, Mr. Coto is found murdered, but by who?. My first ever fan-fic. Please R&R, thank you. Complete!
1. Default Chapter

Starfox in: The Coto Murder Mystery

Note: Starfox, Fox McCloud, and Krystal are all property of Nintendo and so do not belong to me (well duh). All other characters are made up by me. Thank you.

This is my first fan fiction F.Y.I. so if you read & review, please be blunt even if you don't like it.

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The room was filled with chat of all sorts in the reception hall of the Coto Industries building. Fox and Krystal were helping themselves to the free all-you-can-eat buffet when Krystal asked, "So, Fox, who's this 'Saimon Coto' person anyway?"

"Well I've never met him in person, but I do know he's one of Corneria's richest and most powerful businessmen and the CEO of Coto Industries," Fox answered. "I don't know why he would invite us to such a fancy get together though."

"Actually this party is for my daughter."

"Whoa!" yelped Fox as he jumped back in surprise at the unexpected answer.

"Sorry to startle you," said the tall coyote that, though clearly in his fifties, was still physically fit. "I couldn't help but over hear your conversation. I'm Saimon Coto of Coto Industries," he said as he offered his hand to Fox.

"It's okay," replied Fox, shaking Saimon's hand. "I'm Fox McCloud, of the Starfox Team, and this is Krystal, friend and fellow pilot."

"Pleased to meet you," said Krystal, who the shook Saimon's hand herself.

"No need to introduce yourselves," said Saimon with a cheerful smile, "Everyone knows who you are. Come with me, please, there is someone I'd like you to meet."

"Sure," "Okay," said Fox and Krystal in unison. Saimon led the two vulpines to through the crowded hallway to a table with two more coyotes, this time both female.

"Mr. McCloud, I would like you to meet my daughter, Faye," said Saimon gesturing towards the younger looking of two coyotes, who turned around at the sound of Saimons voice.

"Nice to meet you," said Fox.

"Th-the pleasures all mine," said Faye bashfully. Even through her thick fur Fox could tell she was blushing.

"My daughter has always been an admirer of yours, Mr. McCloud," explained Saimon. "So I thought it would be a pleasant surprise for her twenty-fifth birthday if she got to meet you in person."

"Daddy, please you're embarrassing me!" said the now brightly blushing Faye.

"That's not a hard task, really," said the male coyote in a designers suit who had just walked up to the table. "You get embarrassed if someone so much as stares at you."

"Ellias!" scorned the older female coyote sitting at the table. "Be nice to your younger sister!"

"Sorry, mother. I'm just speaking the truth."

"Drop it!" said the woman, now in a serious tone and pointing a stern index finger at Ellias. Noticing Fox was still there she quickly regained her composure. "Oh, I'm sorry to have not introduced myself. I'm Saimon's wife, Raechel Coto. This is my son and heir to Coto Industries, Ellias." Fox saw Ellias' eyebrow twitch at that last statement.

"It's nice to meet you both," replied Fox.

"Excuse me, Mr. McCloud, but who is this young vixen with you?" asked Faye with a slight nod towards Krystal.

"This is Krystal," answered Fox. "She's my...um."

"I guess you could say I'm his girlfriend," answered Krystal for the blushing fox next to her.

"Aw, that's so sweet," said Faye.

"Such a unique fur color," said Ellias slyly as he examined Krystal (some places more elaborately then other's). "How interesting..."

"I leave you for five minutes and you're already looking at other women," said a black and white feline as she strutted over to Ellias in high-heeled shoes.

"Ah, Laura, you've finally decided to join us," said Raechel with a hint impatience in her voice.

"Sorry I'm late," Laura apologized. "My mani/pedi took longer then expected." She held out her right hand to show off her new French manicure.

"Laura, this is Fox McCloud and Krystal of the Starfox team," said Ellias. "Fox and Krystal, this is my lovely wife, Laura."

"Pleased to meet you," said Fox.

"Likewise," said Laura.

"Oh, I just remembered," Faye interjected. "There's someone I'd like you both to meet. Now where is he?..." she mumbled as she scanned the room from her position. "There he is! David! Come here, would you." A snow leopard who looked to be about Fox's age and height walked up to Faye. "Fox, Krystal, this is my fiancé, David." Faye gave the smiling young man a hug.

"It's nice to meet you," he said, extending his hand. "Faye is a big fan of yours."

"So we've heard," said Fox, with a glancing grin at Krystal.

Saimon cleared his throat to get everyone's attention. "Well now that we all know each other, let's get going with the festivities."

Several hours had passed when several of the guests started to leave. It wasn't long before the only ones left were Fox, Krystal, the Cato family and a few various employees. Faye insisted that Fox tell them about past missions. Saimon had left earlier to take care of some work in his office.

". . . I could've stayed there and stared for hours, until Peppy pulled me back to reality," narrated Fox, telling the story of his adventures on Dinosaur Planet and when he first saw Krystal.

"That's so lovely," sighed Rachel, both her hands over her heart.

"Yeah, it's so sweet I'm gettin' cavities here," snapped Ellias, more irritable than usual.

"Ellias!" shouted Faye, smacking her brother on the arm with the back of her hand.

"Sorry. I'm sorry," he apologized. "Excuse me for a sec." He left the room without saying another word.

"Is something the matter with him?" Krystal asked Faye.

"Well, Ellias hasn't been very happy since father announced he was handing over the company to David," whispered Faye. "Plus, he did just quit smoking."

"But your mother said Ellias was the company heir," said the confused Krystal, "and David isn't in the Coto bloodline."

"That's what Ellias said, but daddy thinks he's just not ready to be the CEO of such a big company just yet."

"Speaking of David, where is he?"

"He left about five minutes ago. He said something about talking with my father."

"Excuse me," asked Fox. "May I pause the story for a minute so I can get some water?"

"Sure," answered Fay. "You do remember where the executive lounge is, right?"

"Mmm hmm," Fox nodded.

"Faye, I'm going to go check on your father," said Rachel. "I swear, that man will be late for his own funeral."

Both Fox and Rachel left the room in opposite directions. When Fox arrived at the lounge he noticed David washing his hands at the sink.

"Hi, David, whatchya doing?"

"Oh!" jumped David, "I'm just---"

"AIIIEEE!!!"

This drew Fox's attention away from David. "That sounded like Mrs. Coto!" said Fox as he and Laura ran from the lounge to find the origin of the scream. Krystal, Faye, Laura, and Ellias had already found Mrs. Coto by the time David and Fox arrived. Rachel was curled up in a ball on the floor, trembling against the wall apposite of her husband's office door. Her hand was shaking as she pointed towards the office, and at what scared her.

Fox turned and saw what it was. There, Saimon Coto lay dead on the floor, a bleeding stab wound in his chest, directly over his heart.

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Well there you have it. The first chapter of my three-part story. More to come, soon. Please R&R if you don't mind. Thank you.


	2. Chapter 2

Starfox in: The Coto Murder Mystery

Note: Starfox, Fox McCloud, and Krystal are all property of Nintendo like I already said. Every one else is maid up.

Chapter two of my on-going story. The clues start to appear and the mystery starts to unravel.

Fox went to check the body for a pulse. Knowing full well that there was no point to it, he still checked out of profession. "He's dead alright," said Fox. "But the body is faintly warm so he couldn't have been killed too long ago."

"K-killed?!..." stuttered Raechel as she fainted.

"How...why...who could have done this?" asked Faye, on the verge of crying.

"I'm trying to figure that out," answered Fox. "Okay, let's see. He was probably killed about five to ten minuets ago. Faye, Krystal, Mrs. Coto, and I were all together in the sitting room then, so our only suspects are Laura, David, and Ellias."

"WHAT!?" yelled Ellias. "How can you count me as a suspect?!"

"I'm sorry, but we can't rule anyone out until we have a solid alibi from all of you. Where did you go after you left the sitting room a short while ago?"

"I stepped outside to the balcony for a breath of fresh air."

"Do you have any witness' to that?" asked Krystal.

"Well...no."

"Okay," said Fox. "What about you David? Where were you?"

"Well, after I was finished talking with Mr. Coto, I went to get a drink from the lounge," David explained. "On my way there I saw Laura run into the girls' restroom. I couldn't see her face, but she seemed upset about something."

"Okay and you Laura?"

"I was walking back to join you in the sitting room when I tripped and broke a nail," answered Laura. "It was bleeding so I ran to the bathroom to wash the wound."

It was then that Fox noticed the paper towel wrapped around her right thumb. "Okay. Krystal, go check where Ellias and Laura said they were," commanded Fox. "I'll stay here and search this room."

"Okay," complied Krystal.

"Faye, call the police. Everyone else should wait in the sitting room, and no one leaves until the police arrive." Everyone except Fox and Krystal left to the sitting room. Fox resumed examining the body.

"How could someone have done this to a family member?" asked Krystal, who was upset by this whole ordeal. Although she had seen plenty of violence in her life she hated the thought of someone killing an innocent person.

"I don't know, but we can do our best to help by trying to solve the crime."

"You're right, Fox. I'll go search the..."

"Wait, Krystal, check this out!" Fox's tone had suddenly become more enthusiastic.

"What is it?"

"There's another cut by the stab wound." Fox pointed out a small, shallow cut, millimeters away from the right of the wound. "It looks like it was scratched in."

"How do you think it got there?"

"I don't know. I'll keep searching here. You go search some other areas, okay."

"Right, I'm on it."

Ellias had told Krystal which balcony he had been on while the crime took place, so she decided it was the place to start her search. After opening the sliding glass door, she carefully examined every inch of the scene.

'No obvious evidence that he was here,' Krystal thought to herself. Turning around, she noticed the standing ashtray by the door. Upon closer examination, she noticed a recently extinguished cigarette butt, still smoking.

'Ellias must have had a relapse. Wait! Then Ellias was here. His alibi checks out!'

'Nothing on the body,' Fox thought to himself. 'Maybe there's something hidden in his desk that might help.' Fox walked over to Saimon's desk and knelt down to search the file drawer. 'Sorry to violate your privacy, Saimon, but this is important.'

When he opened the drawer, he saw that it was full of files about other companies and CEO's. Even though the drawer was packed with files, one label caught Fox's eye. "Panthera Industries," he said aloud. 'I remember hearing about that. Coto Industries bought it out in a hostile takeover. Not long after that the former CEO of it was found hung in his own house. How awful.' Fox removed the file and opened it. As he did, a photo fell out of the file and face down onto his lap. He picked it up and saw that it was a photo of a grown man and a little girl. Both smiling. Both cats. Both black and white cats. 'This must be the former CEO. The girl must be his daughter they said was orphaned when they found him.' Then something clicked in the back of Fox's mind. 'Wait...this girl...it can't be...Laura.'

One more chapter to go. I hope you liked it. I can't think of anything to say. Please R&R, thank you.


	3. Chapter 3

Mega sorry for the late update, school's been a ball of stress lately and was put on computer probation. The story concludes in this chapter. Shutting up now, starting chapter.

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Krystal had moved her search to the girl's restroom that David said he saw Laura walk into. She was searching vigorously on all fours for any scrap of potential evidence. In her peripheral vision she saw a small glimpse of something under the sink. She picked it up using a paper towel and looked at it inches away from her face. 'Looks like a piece of plastic,' Krystal thought to herself examining the crimson, crescent-shaped shard. 'But why is it blood?' She wrapped the towel around the shard and put it in her pocket. 'That covers this area. Maybe Fox is having better luck then I am.'

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"That's it!" yelled Ellias. "What's taking them so long?"

"Be patient, Ellias," soothed Faye. "The police will be here momentarily... at least I hope so."

"Not the police, those foxes! Professional hero's my tail!"

"Hey, they're trying their best to solve a murder that I bet you're behind!" shouted David.

"ME!"

"How can you say that?" asked Raechel who was still choked up from crying. "Ellias had no reason to kill his own father."

"Oh, COME ON!" yelled David. "Didn't you see his face when his father said he was giving me the company?"

"Yeah right!" Ellias shouted in David's face. "My guess is that you killed him to get your hands on MY families company all the sooner!"

"WHY YOU LITTLE-"

"-STOP!" shouted Laura. "No more fighting! We've all been hurt by this disaster. The best thing we can do is calm down and hope Mr. McCloud does his best."

"Laura's right," agreed Faye. "So sit down and stop acting like idiots."

After shooting each other one last glare, both Ellias and David reluctantly sat back down.

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Krystal walked back to Saimon's office. When she peered inside, Fox was no where in plain site. "Fox? Are you still-"

THUD! "OWW!" yelled Fox after he hit his head under Saimon's desk. Fox managed to successfully rear his head over the desk this time. As Fox rubbed the newly formed lump on his head, Krystal walked over to him.

"Fox, what are you doing under there?" asked Krystal.

"Searching for clues," Fox answered. "So far I've come up empty handed. There's no sign of a struggle and no more visible evidence. How about you?"

"Well, Ellias' alibi checks out, and I found something in the restroom I think might be a clue." Krystal's eyes wandered as she spoke and she noticed a file that was on the desk that wasn't there before. "What's this?" she asked as she picked it up.

"Oh that's a file I pulled out. I remember hearing about that hostile company takeover a few years back."

"Oh..." Krystal started reading everything in the file for Panthera Industries. Assets, debts, staff lay-offs, everything. Then she found the picture of the pair of black and white cats that Fox found. "Who's this?" she asked as she showed Fox the photo.

"That's the former CEO. They said he was found hanged in his house a short while after losing his company."

"That's awful, and who's the little girl?"

"That's his daughter. They put her up for adoption after her father died."

'This girl...she looks like...wait a minuet.' Krystal glanced at the photo, then at Saimon's body, and then she remembered the bloody, crescent shaped piece of plastic. Putting all the pieces together, her eyes lit up with realization. "Fox, gather everyone together and bring them here, I think I know who did it."

"Really? Who?"

"I'll explain later. First get every on in here."

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"Okay," said Fox. "Everyone's here."

"So tell us all ready!" demanded Ellias. "Who's the murderer?!"

"First, let's review the clues," Krystal began. "The first clue was found on Saimon himself. Fox said he found a scratch wound parallel to the stab wound. Our second clue was found in the restroom." Krystal pulled out the paper towel from her pocket and revealed the bloody piece of plastic.

"What is that?" asked Raechel.

"That's what I was wondering. At least until Fox showed me the third and final clue, which happens to be this file," explained Krystal as she slid the file forward, allowing Raechel to pick it up.

"Oh, yes, I remember this. But how is it a clue?"

"Specifically, the clue is the photograph inside the file."

Raechel pulled out the photo and glanced at it.

"I still don't see how this is a clue," said David.

"Look closely at the girl. Who does she look like?"

It took them a second, but soon they saw what she was talking about. "She...she looks like Laura!" said Raechel.

"Correct, and if my guess is correct, she's also the murderer of Saimon Coto," said Krystal pointing her index finger at Laura.

"That's absurd!" yelled Ellias. "Laura would never-"

"No, it's true," said Laura sadly. "I did it...I killed Saimon."

"B-but...Why?" stuttered Faye.

"It's kind of a long story," Laura began. "After Saimon bought out my fathers company, my father became depressed. That company was his life. He stopped eating, stopped sleeping. One day I came home only to find that he had hanged himself in his room. After I was adopted and met you, Ellias, I had no idea Saimon was your father. When I found out, I thought I could put it behind me, but then when he announced that David inherit the company and not you, I became scared that you might do the same thing my father did. I tried to change his mind, but he wouldn't listen to me. Before I realized what I was doing it was too late... I murdered him." Laura fell to her knees as tears welled up in her eyes.

"And when you stabbed him you held the knife wrong. You had your thumb projected forward and your nail also pierced his skin, chipping your nail as well," said Krystal, explaining her theory. "In your hurry to wash the blood off of you, you must have broken your nail off while washing your hands. That's what the piece of what I thought was plastic was."

"Yes... it's all true... Ellias... I'm sorry..." Laura started to cry as she finished her confession. The room fell silent except for Laura's tears of guilt.

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Shortly afterwards, the police arrived and apprehended Laura. Fox and Krystal said their good byes to the grieving Coto family. During the drive back to Starfox H.Q., Krystal couldn't help but remember what Laura said before she was taken away. 'Krystal... thanks you. As strange as it may sound, I'm glad I was found out... thank you.'

"That was some pretty good detective work you did back there, Krys," complimented Fox, breaking the silence.

"Hmm? Oh! Thank you," said Krystal, waking up from her daze. "It's still hard to believe all that's happened though."

"Yeah, I know what you mean. But at least Ellias forgave Laura.

"Yeah," said Krystal as she remembered the last thing Ellias said to Laura: 'Laura, no matter what I'll always love you. I'll wait for the day you return. You are and always will be number one in my heart.'

Krystal's thoughts were interrupted this time when she felt Fox's hand take a gentle hold of hers. When she looked up, Fox gave her a loving smile and neither of them said a word. What needed to be said? They both knew how they felt for each other. It was a feeling that can't be expressed by word, but from the heart itself.

The End

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And that's the end of my first fan fiction. I hope you liked it. Please review if you don't mind. Oh and congratulations to every one who figured out who did it before this chapter was posted.


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